Neymar made a perfect return to action as he was on the scoresheet for the first, and last time, in 2024. The Brazilian winger has seen his game time in 2024 cut by injury, meaning he has made just three appearances for Al-Hilal.

The 32-year-old was linked with a move to Chelsea before he moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023. But just over a month after completing the transfer, he suffered a cruciate ligament tear which kept him on the sidelines for almost a year.

The injury saw him not named in Al-Hilal’s squad for the Saudi Pro League for the first half of the season, due to them reaching the threshold of the overseas players allowed in the squad. His only appearances came in the AFC Champions League, before a hamstring injury picked up in November saw him on the sidelines again.

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After recovering from his latest set-back, Neymar will now look to make an impact in the second half of the season. A mid-season break in Saudi Arabia has seen his team in friendly action with the winger making an immediate impact.

Neymar opened the scoring, and played a big part in the second goal in a 2-0 friendly win over fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha. It was his first goal for the club since October 2023.

Following the match, he took to social media, reposting a clip of his goal on his Instagram story along with a caption which translates to: “Last goal this year” and two star eye emojis.

Neymar will hope to make an impact on the competitive stag when Al-Hilal return to competitive action on January 7. They take on N’Golo Kante’s Al-Ittihad in the quarter-final of the King’s Cup.